The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a mappa mundi, of a form deriving from the T and O pattern, dating from ca. 1285. It is currently on display at Hereford Cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the largest medieval map known to still exist.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi hung, little regarded, for many years on a wall of a choir aisle in the cathedral. During the troubled times of the Interregnum the map had been laid beneath the floor of Bishop Audley’s Chantry where it remained secreted for some time. In 1855 it was cleaned and repaired at the British Museum.

During the Second World War, the mappa mundi and other valuable manuscripts from Hereford Cathedral Library were kept elsewhere in safety and returned to the collection in 1946.

The Mappa Mundi reminds us that life is temporal – it reminds us that death awaits and we must pass on peacefully. The world is a book, enjoy it while you are here ….